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Beer review: Thornbridge Jaipur IPA looks to U.S. for its hoppy character

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA is a pale, golden-coloured brew with a citrusy, slightly spicy aroma, and a lingering, bitter finish. While it’s not as mouth-puckeringly bitter as some U.S.-made IPAs, there’s no mistaking the American influence.

The aromatically hoppy beer style known as India Pale Ale may have been brewed by English brewers for export to the subcontinent, but over the last two decades, American craft brewers have made it their own.

What quicker way, after all, to let a drinker know they’re not sipping fizzy standard, mass-produced yellow water than to hit them with a boatload of citrusy, spicy hop aroma, then jolt them with a bitter finish?

Yet while brewers on this continent were busy throwing loads of hops into their brewing kettles and making IPA the most widely made craft beer style, in its home country, it was largely a shadow of the beer that made its way to India during the era of the Raj. Rather than a richly hoppy brew, English IPAs had turned into something not much bolder than a standard pale ale. (If you’re curious, try some Wells Eagle IPA, to see what was passing as an IPA in England for much of the last few decades.)

Now, however, English brewers are beginning to reclaim what was once theirs. Thanks largely to small, independent craft brewers, there are now IPAs worthy of the name being made in England.

Jaipur, an IPA from Bakewell, England-based Thornbridge Brewery, is an excellent example.

The pale, golden-coloured brew has a citrusy, slightly spicy aroma, and a lingering, bitter finish. While it’s not as mouth-puckeringly bitter as some U.S.-made IPAs, there’s no mistaking the American influence, including the use of seven different hop varieties — all from the U.S.

That American character was quite deliberate, says Matthew Clark, production manager at Thornbridge.

“We were definitely inspired by American craft brewers when it came to Jaipur, particularly Goose Island IPA (still one of my faves). More and more English brewers are looking towards the U.S. as their beers get hoppier and hoppier and we now have double and triple IPAs,” said Clark. Still, there are some limits to how hoppy he likes his beers to be, Clark says.

“We try not to strip the enamel from customer’s teeth; balance and drinkability are very important to us,” Clark said.

With English brewers now taking inspiration from Americans, it’s completing a circle which began when American craft brewers looking to make a mark found inspiration in historic styles from other countries.

“I think as far as inspiration goes, what goes around comes around. Today, many English breweries are heavily influenced by American craft, but that wasn’t always the case. After prohibition, America started with a clean slate and looked to other countries when developing beers and beer styles,” says Clark.

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